A mass grave containing 25 bodies dating from the start of the Lebanese civil war has been found in the former Israeli-occupied zone of southern Lebanon, police said Thursday.

Most of the bodies were of Lebanese army troops and members of a radical Islamic militia who went missing in 1976, local residents said. All had Muslim names.

In the second year of the civil war Lebanese army units in the south split along religious lines, with a Muslim lieutenant, Ahmad al-Khatib, forming the Arab Lebanon Army.

Christian officers formed the nucleus of the Free Lebanon Army headed by the pro-Israeli Saad Haddad, which included Christian party militiamen. This mutated into the South Lebanon Army, which supported Israel during its 22-year occupation of the south that ended last month.

Police sources said SLA members who surrendered after the Israeli withdrawal led the Lebanese authorities to the grave in the Khiam valley - KHIAM (AFP)